Your Email Address
[email protected]

Your Name
Sylvie Lambert

Title of the project
e-IMPAQC: Evaluation of a mobile application for the realtime electronic assessment of cancer patient- and informal caregiver-reported outcomes to improve symptom burden and quality of life in Quebec

Amount (in CAD$)
1500000

 

Grant Recipient 1

Name
Lambert, S.D.

Affiliation
St, Mary's Research Centre / McGill University - Ingram School of Nursing

Are they a CAPO Member?
Yes

Picture
Sylvie_Lambert1.jpg

 

Grant Recipient 2

Name
Faria, R.

Affiliation
St. Mary's Hospital Center

Are they a CAPO Member?
No

Picture
Rosana_Faria.jpg

 

Grant Recipient 3

Name
Rosberger, Z.

Affiliation
Jewish General Hospital / McGill University

Are they a CAPO Member?
No

 

Grant Recipient 4

Name
McCusker, J.

Affiliation
St. Mary's Research Centre

Are they a CAPO Member?
Yes

Picture
Jane_McCusker.png

Are you a current member of CAPO?
Yes

What is the name of your funding agency?
Canadian Partner Against Cancer

What was the duration of your grant?
5

What was the amount awarded for the grant?
1500000

Description
Patients undergoing cancer treatment experience multiple symptoms, many of which remain unrecognized and undertreated.1 To address this problem, systematic and standardized collection of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become a cornerstone of modern patient-centered care. PROs, collected using questionnaires provided to patients to self-report symptoms, capture patients’ perspectives about how the cancer and its treatments are impacting on their general well-being2 and provide clinicians the information they need to improve symptom detection and management.3 The availability of standardized PRO data has a cascade of effects, including a) enhanced patientclinician communication; b) improved clinician awareness of patients’ symptoms; c) greater patient and clinician satisfaction; d) improved patient symptom management; and ultimately, e) improved patient outcomes.4 Although, routine assessment of PROs has been found to have strong, consistent, positive effects on key processes of care (e.g., patient-clinician communication),4 evidence for the effects on symptom severity and patient outcomes (e.g., anxiety, quality of life) remain equivocal. To date, 24 trials have been conducted examining the effectiveness of PRO programs; the results of which have identified components that are now considered standard, including completing PRO questionnaires at pre-determined intervals and sending feedback reports to clinicians.4 These trials have also identified a number of patient-centered components that might improve effectiveness, including a) empowering patients to self-manage symptoms by providing them with a summary of their PRO data and personalized educational resources, b) using mobile technology to tailor PRO assessments to patients’ treatment, and c) including patient’s primary support: their informal caregivers. No trial to date has examined the effectiveness of integrating these patientand caregiver-centered strategies into a PRO program. The PRO program developed by our team integrates all of these innovations, and our goal is to evaluate their effects on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with cancer in Quebec and their informal caregivers. Improving the effectiveness of PRO programs in oncology is a priority both nationally and internationally;3, 5 this study will position Quebec as a world leader in this field and create unique data-banking opportunities for future hypothesis-generating research.